"If they get away with money once, they’re going to come back and they’re going to hit it again," said Brad Barkis, owner of Surfside Car Wash in Lee County. "You never want to tuck one of these back behind a building, or some thieves can spend all night tearing into them."

Police reports said all of the machines targeted in Cape Coral had quarters inside them. A few of them had hundreds of dollars worth.

Barkis said many stores with air and vacuum machines have started taking tokens instead of actual currency. He said despite tokens being an inconvenience to customers, they may help deter thieves from these locations.

On Thursday, July 18, Cape Coral Police responded to thefts at 7-Eleven and Circle K on Skyline Boulevard. Police reports state a few days later, on Tuesday, July 23, officers were called back again for the same exact crime.

Damage to the machines is now well over $1,000, which makes the crime a felony.

Barkis said these convenience stores or, whoever they lease the machines to, have to empty vaults more often.

“The less money that they hold, the less money the thieves can get away with,” Barkis said.